Elsword: Adventures of Elrios
by Pegistar5
Summary: On one fateful day, three adventurers with their own unique stories meet... Thus starting an adventure of a lifetime! A retelling of the original game. Rated T for violence, future language, and future events. ON INDEFINITE HIATUS! WILL BE DELETED WHEN REWRITE COMES OUT! For right now I'll be focusing on my other (better written vwv;) stories.
1. Chapter 1: A Beginning with a Meeting

**A/N** : I'm currently rewriting the first five chapters (or so) that aren't in third person POV to be in third person POV (seeing as how all of the scenes that I've planned out are in third person POV...). I'll also hopefully be improving the chappies from the original ^^;

* * *

Deep within the forests of Elrios, birds chirped, animal cries echoed, and sunlight filtered through the great branches of the trees. Among the forest inhabitants, a young boy with spiky red hair sprawled onto the ground. Clad in a black shirt, red vest, white pants, and metal shoes, he wielded a great sword with white columns of steel lined with red. The hilt was wrapped in white cloth and the guard was red with a single thick, white stripe cutting through it. As he laid on the ground, a distant memory rang in his head.

 _Get up and stop slacking off, Elsword!_

The boy huffed for a moment before springing back up and swinging his sword once again, a determined glint in his eyes. As he was training, he couldn't help but notice that the forest sounded a little bit more lively than usual, but he paid it no heed. That is, until he heard grunting and groaning coming from near him. At first, he tried to ignore it, but soon enough it became rather unbearable and exceedingly annoying.

"Will you guys just shut up?!" he snapped as he burst through the bushes. What greeted him were a couple of masked people scrambling behind a wooden barrier.

"Y-you can't pass here!" one of them cried out.

"Tch! What do you think you're doing? You're blocking off the road! What if someone gets lost because of you guys?"

"As if we care in the slightest," one of them muttered.

"You jerks!" Elsword yelled as he dashed at the barrier and swung his sword. With a few slashes the barrier was completely reduced to rubble. "Alright then, who's up next?" he challenged.

The masked men quickly rallied themselves and charged at the boy. However, before any of them could strike, he rushed forward and slammed his sword into one of them, sending him flying. The other two tackled the boy, knocking out his breath as he fell to the ground. He quickly got back up and jumped to avoid their next attacks. Swinging his sword downward, he bashed another one of the attackers in the head with a solid _thunk_.

 _Two down, one to go,_ he thought. The final attacker was swinging his fists around aimlessly. He simply rushed forward and knocked the man skyward with a powerful uppercut from his sword.

"None of you guys even stood a chance," he smirked. "Now then-"

A powerful roar shook the air, sending shivers down the boy's spine. It was just the implications of power in the roar, but there was something ominous about it, like a powerful beast had just been set loose.

"You three!" he shouted at the defeated bandits. "You guys better not move an inch! I've got a lot of questions to ask you guys so you better not try to escape!" Without waiting for a reply he charged off, headed in the direction of the ominous roar.

* * *

The girl growled as she finished the last of the Phorus. She had on a simple white shirt that left her chest open with two dark stripes along the top converging into a single stripe down the middle. Long, dark purple sleeves with white cuffs flowed under linen shoulder guards, the same color as the sleeves and tied together with a hot pink bow. Her mini skirt was an even darker purple with a white stripe running along the bottom. Around her waist was a somewhat loose brown belt. She had on brown stockings and purple shoes, topped with two more hot pink bows, one on each. Her hair was a bright, cheery purple tied into two low hanging braids that were relatively short. Dark fingerless gloves covered her hands, with her right one twirling a blue and pink staff with a large, circular end.

"Serves you right for calling the great magician Aisha some bratty girl!" she exclaimed at the defeated Phorus. She frowned as she remembered the roar that shook the air. _Now time to investigate the source of that roar..._

She pushed through some foliage only to find herself watching a battle unfold between a young red-haired boy and a large, towering, blue monster with giant claws. While the boy had put up quite the struggle, deflecting quite a few attacks and hacking and slashing his way at the beast; in the end he didn't stand a chance as the blue demon made him his punching bag.

 _At this rate, that boy's gonna die,_ Aisha grimaced. Brandishing her staff, she pointed it at the beast, sending a flurry of fireballs at him.

"How do you like that?" she challenged. To her surprise, a sudden howl sent both the fireballs she cast and her own self flying.

"He's stronger than I thought!" she hissed under her breath, falling back into the habit of talking to herself during battle. As she painfully hauled herself up, she spotted the monster lunging at her, giant claws outstretched. She screeched in surprise as she teleported hastily, landing directly behind him.

"At this rate, I'll have to...!" _But there's no time!_ she interrupted herself as the beast slashed at her again and again, forcing her to teleport all around the clearing.

"HYAAAAAAAH!" A red-haired figure launched itself at the monster, hacking and slashing with its sword. Aisha's eyes widened as she recognized who it was.

 _It's the boy!_

"Come on!" he yelled at her. "Do the thingy you were gonna do!"

"Right!" Aisha called back. _He's surprisingly perceptive!_ Shaking the thought away, she closed her eyes and focused as the boy distracted the monster. She called upon the power of the El, feeling a shot of joy when a surge of power flowed through her.

 _Yes! I wasn't sure that it would work, but now I know for sure that I can still awaken and harness the power of the El!_

She raised her staff and pointed it at the beast, sending fireball after fireball at him. The red-haired boy joined in, swinging his sword once again. Together, they managed to corner the beast up against the tree. As they forced it back, the beast suddenly charged straight through, knocking the two of them to the ground. Aisha looked up to see the beast's claws. With another surprised screech she teleported behind him, but the monster was ready for that as well. Now I was the one cornered. He sent a flurry of claw strikes at me, forcing me to block with my staff and dodge. There was no opening for a teleport either, as the claw strikes were so quick they threatened to interrupt the spell should she attempt to cast it. Even worse was the fact that the monster simply shrugged off all of the attacks from the boy.

 _An opening, an opening, an opening... I need an opening...!_

"Take this!" the boy roared as an explosion of power erupted from within him.

 _He can awaken as well?_ _!_ Aisha gasped. She quickly teleported away and charged up a spell.

"Out of the way!" she called to the boy. " **Chain... Fireball**!"

A stream of fireballs erupted from her staff, all of them spinning to the monster. To her relief, it was a direct hit. However, the beast emerged from the embers soon after, only looking a little banged up and singed. She took a step back in surprise, but also -to her disbelief- fear. It crawled up her spine and enveloped her in so much more than she thought was possible from a simple skirmish.

 _It was barely even fazed...?!_

Next to her, she could see the boy glaring defiantly at the monster.

"I don't have time to play with you kiddies," the monster growled. "I'll retreat for now, but I'll be back!" With that, he leaped back and disappeared.

"I...it's gone...?" the boy panted as he collapsed on the ground. "I still needed to make him pay for trying to steal the El Shard...!"

Aisha tried to swallow her fear and ease her tension now that the beast was gone. "I don't blame it for running after seeing what I can do," she bluffed.

The boy gave a look at her. "Who are you...?" he huffed as he caught his breath.

"Nice job. I'll admit, you were quite useful in that battle. I'm Aisha, a magician from the south. You?"

"Tch, you didn't have to butt in! I could've handled him!"

"I- I don't think getting beaten to a pulp is 'handling him'..." Aisha chuckled nervously. "A- anyway, what's your name?"

"The El Shard!" the boy burst out suddenly. "Are you trying to steal the El Shard too?!" he accused.

"You IDIOT!" Aisha screamed. "Listen when people are _talking to you_!"

"HEY!" someone screamed at them. A lime-green haired elf was glaring at them. "Look over there! That bandit ran off with the El Shard!"

"What?!" Aisha and the boy gasped.

"We have to get it back! Come on!" The boy dashed off, followed by the elf girl.

"Tsk, I suppose I have no choice, huh?" Aisha muttered to herself as she followed. _Those bandits are going to pay now that I'm helping to get back the El Shard!_

* * *

This is my first story on this website so constructive criticism is much welcomed ^^;

Side note: Els is in his renewal/alternate portrait outfit with his original sword while Aisha is in her renewal outfit (plus weapon)


	2. Chapter 2: Schemes and Plans

"Over here, quickly!" the elf girl shouted as she ran to where she lead the charge. As they were dashing along, they spotted a man with brown-gray hair dressed in a red shirt and long white pants with metal shoulder guards.

"Lowe!" the red-haired boy shouted. "Did you see Banthus pass by?"

"He was acting suspicious so I decided to tail him but I lost him. What happened?" he asked, noting the distressed look on the boy's face.

"The bandit ran off with the El Shard!" Aisha exclaimed hastily.

"We have to track him down as quickly as possible!" the boy chimed in.

"What?! We have to inform the chief about this right away!" He quickly ran into the village, a sign spelling out "Ruben" in bold words. Aisha and the other two followed, stopping in front of a wooden building, presumably the chief's office. As the red-haired boy and Lowe went inside, Aisha decided to take stock of the newcomer who had joined them.

Long pointy ears signified that she was indeed an elf. She had long lime-green hair and light green eyes. She had on a black collar with a gold triangle or arrow head-like centerpiece. A green tank top with black straps and blue checker patterns revealed a large amount of her belly and a little bit of her voluminous breasts. Green and blue armbands in the same checker pattern was connected to a golden arm bracelet on its bottom and a large black band on the top. White linen wrist wraps were adorned with thick black bracelets topped with a reddish-pink button on each one. A tight brown belt was wrapped around her waist, another reddish-pink button pinned to the side. A black miniskirt rimmed with dark turquoise was tucked under the belt, leaving half of her thighs exposed. Long white socks vanished into black boots with white soles and reddish-pink buttons in the middle ringed with blue. In her left hand was a large bow, the limbs patterned green with black on the edges and in the middle. Smaller blue and white ornaments spiraled together to create wing-like shapes sprouting out on each side of the grip.

"So you're an archer?" Aisha guessed.

"That's right," the elf girl confirmed. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Aisha, magician extraordinaire!" she boasted, summoning her staff and twirling it in the air. "I have no idea who the red-haired brat is, though," she scowled.

"Well, I'm Rena," the elf girl said. "Are you also helping to look for the El Shard?"

"Yeah, seeing as how I don't really have much of a choice," she grumbled as she de-summoned her staff.

Rena cocked her head. "Whatever do you mean?"

Aisha sighed. "Well, I wanted to investigate the El Shard to see something... but then those filthy bandits show up!" she ended with a shout. "If that boy hadn't interfered, I could've caught them!" She paced around for a bit, venting her frustrations -which were quickly becoming more and more focused on how incompetent and rude the boy was.

"If I were you, I would want to get back the stolen El Shard as soon as possible," Rena interrupted. "He probably didn't think to go through formalities when he wanted to catch the bandits as soon as possible."

"Yeah... that is true..." Aisha mumbled. "But that still doesn't excuse his rudeness!" she screeched.

"What rudeness?" the red-haired boy asked as he walked out of the office with Lowe.

"Your rudeness!"

"What do you mean?" he snapped, temper beginning to flare.

"I saved your life and you didn't even tell me your name!"

"I saved _your_ life so we're even!"

"Don't you guys want to hear where the bandits are-?" Lowe attempted to interfere.

"I told you my name; you should have the courtesy to tell me yours!" Aisha shouted, the argument turning into an all out scream fest.

"Guys-"

"Well then, what _IS_ your name?!"

"Aisha! Now what's yours?!"

" _Guys_...-!" Rena hissed, her voice taking on a warning tone.

"Elsword! You satisfied?!"

"Of COURSE NOT! IF YOU HAD JUST SAID THAT IN THE FIRST PLAC-"

"GUYS! ENOUGH!" Rena screeched, positively _fed up_ with the argument by now. She cleared her throat awkwardly and heaved a big sigh. She muttered a quick apology to Lowe under her breath before stomping over to the two kids.

"Right then, _both of you_. Do you want to get the El Shard back, or _not_?!" she asked, her voice hitching on a dangerous tone. "'Cause right now, _arguing_ isn't going to do _anything_!" She then promptly whacked them both on the head. "Continue, please," she smiled at Lowe while sighing internally. _And I promised not to get into a rage like that...!_

"Uh- right." Lowe stammered as he cleared his throat before continuing. "You say Banthus was the one who stole the El Shard, correct?" The rest of the group nodded. "Well, we've found traces of unknown bandits hanging around Lake Noah's. I've got a strong suspicion that they're Banthus's bandits. You can go ahead and beat the information out of them if you have to, but try not to draw too much attention."

"And why should we follow you?" Aisha asked haughtily.

Rena shot a barely concealed murderous glare at her before answering. "Would you rather not have any lead at all?" She gave a warm smile as Aisha cringed. "I thought so."

"Besides that, you'll have to be authorized in order to carry out missions like these. I'm hoping that we'll be able to catch and take back the El from Banthus quickly, but if worst comes to worst you'll have to be authorized to enter the big cities and conduct searches. I've temporarily enrolled the two of you into the El Scouts, so you'll have to follow my orders as long as we're in Ruben."

"And when did you do this?" Aisha asked.

"While I was talking with the chief, Hagus," Lowe replied smoothly. "I'm not stupid nor useless, you know."

"Seemed like it to me..." Aisha muttered under her breath, smirking slightly when nobody argued. Rena merely sighed as she motioned for Elsword to lead them to Lake Noah's.

* * *

"Is all of that really necessary...?" Rena questioned.

"Well, none of them were even much of a challenge," Elsword replied, haphazardly chucking the bandit over his shoulder.

Aisha frowned. "But I thought bandits were uncommon."

"Maybe with Banthus on the move, the number of bandits have grown," Rena pondered uncertainly.

"Who cares? We found the paper, so we have to get a move on!"

"You mean _I_ found it," Aisha corrected, twirling her staff and waving around a piece of paper that detailed Banthus's plans. Rena swiftly plucked the paper out of her hands and skimmed over it as she headed back to Ruben.

"This thing is coded... and I'm not very good at codes in the Ellian language..." she muttered to herself.

"Banthus had the smarts to _actually code his plans_?" Aisha gasped. "Guess he's not a _total_ meat-head, unlike a certain _someone_."

"Hey!" Elsword protested. Rena sighed (yet again) as another argument arose between the two children.

* * *

"Mister Lowe, we found this from the bandits," Rena explained as she handed over the paper to him. Behind her, Elsword and Aisha were still bickering, their voices starting to grate against her ears. She spun around and shot a death glare at the two children. "Do you know what it says?" she continued.

"This...!" he muttered out loud. "This claims that Banthus has been planning to steal the El Shard for a while now!"

"What?!" Elsword screeched.

"If this is true..." Rena muttered.

"There have been rumors circulating around that Banthus has a magic amulet that can control the holy beast..." Lowe hissed. "I'll alert the chief and the townsfolk of this new development! The three of you should travel to the Tree of El and intercept Banthus, as fast as possible!"

"Right!" Elsword shouted as the three travelers burst out of the village and into the forest beyond.

* * *

 **Rewritten: Aug 31, 2016**

Hopefully I patched up a few issues in this chapter (and hopefully didn't create more issues huehuehue). There's a few events in this chapter that don't line up perfectly with chappie 4, but I'll fix those when chappy 4 gets rewritten (which, at this rate will be never, cuz i keep procrastinating... halp)


	3. Chapter 3: Finding Banthus

The warm sunlight filtered through the canopy of leaves. It was a clear day, directly contrasting the situation that three members of the El Scouts had found themselves in.

"What's _with_ these guys?!" Aisha scowled as she blew away yet another pink bird. She huffed as the others finally finished clearing out the mob of birds that had assaulted them.

Rena cast her searching look through the foliage, spying what appeared to be a nest.

"We must have been trespassing on their territory," she observed. "I've heard that the pink birds, dubbed "Ruchi" are uniquely native to the forests of Ruben."

"How do you know that?" Aisha questioned as they continued on the path.

"I may not come from around here, but I have a duty as an elf to know of the inhabitants of nature, whether that be in Ruben or elsewhere. Besides, all my years of carrying out missions for the elder has given me _some_ knowledge of the world."

"You say that like you're an old hag," Elsword commented. Aisha promptly whacked him with her staff.

"Do you have _any_ idea how _rude_ that is?!" she snapped.

Rena sent Elsword a chilling death glare before clapping her hands together. "No arguing. We have a mission to fulfill, so let's get moving!"

The three of them pushed on, traveling deeper into the woods. As the three of them were about to step out into a clearing, Rena abruptly stopped and held up a hand.

"Quiet," she whispered, shoving the other two into the bushes.

"What was that fo-"

"SSH!" Aisha hissed. She glanced over at Rena, who was intently observing something. As she peeked out from under her cover, a group of bandits met her eyes.

 _So that's what she saw,_ Aisha thought.

"Why aren't we-!" Elsword shouted, but was cut off as Aisha jabbed him in the stomach with her staff.

"Quiet!" she hissed. "Don't you want to figure out what they're doing here?"

"Well, they're _obviously_ trying to steal the El Shard-"

"They've _already_ stolen it!"

"Oh- well- just beat the answer out of them!"

"That'll alert the enemy to our presence! And that might allow Banthus to escape! Again!" She sighed as she turned to Rena, whose only sign of hearing the argument was a twitch of her ear and a vein on her head.

" _Children_..." she growled, not once taking her eyes off the bandits. Both Elsword and Aisha let loose a small squeak before turning their attention on the bandits again.

"Extract the El... transport... mission... Banthus..." they heard the bandits mutter.

"Tch, just admit it, we're stuck here doing nothing when Banthus gets all of the fun!" one of them burst out. "No one's gonna come after us, so this 'bodyguard' job thing is _useless_!"

Another one of them laughed. "Yeah, those El Scouts... they sure are _stupid_!" he hollered. "They didn't even notice that we stole their El... and they're not even here to stop Banthus!"

Aisha slowly (and somewhat hesitantly) turned to look at Elsword, who had a dark look on his face and eyes burning with anger. His fingers were practically choking the life out of his sword.

"They shouldn't even be _called_ El Scouts. They should be called El _Shits_!"

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S _IT_!" Elsword roared, bursting out of the bushes and smashing a bandit as _hard_ as he could. Aisha clenched her staff hand, a furious look on her face. A similar look was on Rena, as she drew her bowstring taut and fired.

"Elsword!" Aisha cried as she clenched her staff hand. She looked at Rena, who had a deadly look on her face as she drew her bowstring taut and fired.

"Come on!" Rena shouted, grinding her teeth and flying to meet the opposition. Aisha swung her staff and blew out of the bushes, summoning fireball after fireball at the enemy.

In the meantime, Elsword was swinging with grim determination, blasting apart the bandits. " _No one_ insults my friends!" he cried as he batted away another bandit. In moments, the so-called "bodyguards" were completely decimated. Elsword stood in the middle, panting, his eyes covered by his hair.

"Banthus?" Rena quietly questioned.

"Banthus," Elsword answered. "He's going to _pay_."

* * *

They stood in front of the vine-covered doorway. His anger had somewhat died down, but that was only so he could save it for the one who dared to mess with his home.

"I can sense someone," Rena informed. "Likely Banthus. You ready?" she asked the others.

"Of course. He won't stand a chance," Aisha answered smugly.

"He won't know what hit him," Elsword added.

With a _bang_ Rena kicked open the door. The three El Scouts charged in, immediately spotting Banthus and targeting him.

"Hand over the El Shard!" Elsword demanded.

"Like I'll answer to kids like _you_!" Banthus retorted, lifting his giant sword and swinging it straight at Elsword. He readied his sword in response and blocked, grunting at the effort, but succeeding nonetheless. He slipped around and delivered a solid strike, jumping away right as Aisha sent her fireballs at him. Before they knew it Rena slid in low to the ground and struck with her legs. Aisha readied yet another spell as Elsword charged in again.

Banthus roared and leapt high into the air, slamming his sword into the ground on the return trip back. "Rena!" Aisha cried as Elsword and the elf in question were sent flying. She teleported up close to Banthus and slapped him with her staff before he could assault the two others.

Rena flipped in midair and slid back from the force of the strike. She quickly jumped right back into the fray, leaping in the air. To the surprise of all the others, she jumped a _second_ time in mid-air and then slammed both of her legs into Banthus's head. The _crack_ of bone rang in the air. Banthus stumbled back, retreating to the other side of the clearing. The El Scouts stared him down, getting back into fighting stances for the second round.

"I don't have time to mess around with you brats!" he snarled as he clutched a yellow necklace around his neck.

"Give it up, Banthus!" Elsword demanded once again.

"Like I would," Banthus sneered. He then began shining a bright white light, blinding the El Scouts and forcing them to shield their eyes.

"W-what?!" Aisha commented as soon as she was able to open her eyes. In Banthus's place was a giant white Phoru, eyes glowing a deep red. "Teleportation?!" she gasped out loud. In response, the giant Phoru roared, the sound reverberating through the area.

"Not now, Aisha!" Rena exclaimed, rushing forward. "We have to focus on beating this Phoru!"

"R-right!" She summoned even more fireballs and commanded them to fly straight at the Phoru. Elsword followed behind, striking the Phoru as he got closer. Rena flung her legs out and drop kicked the Phoru before spinning around and firing arrows one after the other. Even then, the Phoru wouldn't stop its rampage. With a roar it charged forward, batting away Elsword and almost getting Rena, who ducked out of the way.

Aisha teleported over to Elsword and held out a hand, spying claw marks on his face welling up with blood. "You alright?" she asked.

"I can get up by myself," he hissed in response.

"Fine then, be that way!" Aisha snapped. She turned to look at the Phoru, who was currently being distracted by Rena. However, they all knew that it wouldn't be long before she tired out or made a misstep.

"Out of the way!" a voice cried behind her. She spun around only to see Elsword blow past her and rush at the Phoru.

" **Mega Slash**!" he cried, thrusting his sword in a wide arc and bringing the Phoru to its knees. Aisha blinked in surprise. _This power... He's stronger than I thought!_

"We should get out of here while we have the chance," Rena gasped as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"But Banthus got away!" Elsword protested. "And he still has the El Shard!"

"Aaaaaargh!" Aisha shouted, tangling her fingers in her hair. "I can't believe that I let him get away!"

Rena walked over to the Tree of El, running her hand along the bark as she cast her watchful eyes upon it. "Good," she sighed. "The Tree of El is still safe. At least we did one thing right," she commented wryly. "There's not much else we can do here. We should report back to that person. Lowe, was it?"

"Yeah..." Elsword sighed. "I still don't like it."

"None of us do," Aisha retorted. "But we have to."

"Come on!" Rena called. "I don't think anyone is seriously injured, so we can do checkups back at the village. Now let's get going!"

* * *

 **Rewritten:** **September 15, 2016**

Was the anger burst in the beginning too much? Too little? Eh, probably did something wrong there lol. I'll try to explain why as best as I can in the chap 4 rewrite tho - -;

I feel like I am/(might be) writing them out of character e.e Any thoughts?

/is waiting patiently for the moment they get out of Ruben ;w;/


	4. Chapter 4: Getting to Know Ya!

"Hagus, you were right!" the red-haired boy called as we entered the village. "But a giant Phoru blocked my way and we lost him."

"We'll have to track him as quickly as possible," Hagus frowned. He then took stock of our battered selves. "You three should rest up. You've done enough for now. I'll alert all the other villagers to search for Banthus in your stead. Lowe," he added. "Could you take them to the training center? I'm sure the other two travelers can rest there while they're here."

"Yes sir. The training center is over that way," Lowe said, heading towards a structure to the left of the chief's office. "I'll lead you to your room. Elsword, you don't mind if you share the same hallway with them, do you?" he added, looking at the red-haired boy.

"Yeah, sure… wait, what?!" he protested. Unfortunately for him, Lowe had already moved on ahead. I could see Aisha stifle a giggle before following him. I allowed myself to smile at the boy's indigence before chasing after her.

* * *

"It's quite cozy in here," I remarked, gazing up around the earthly structure. Wooden slabs were neatly lined up in rows and made up most of the building. Our bunks were on opposite ends of the room, made by the same type of wood as the rest of the building. It almost reminded me of the Elven village from back home, save the slightly darker color scheme.

"Oi, Rena," Aisha called, flopping on to her bunk. "Do you think we should get to know this Elsword character better? He may be a brat, but it seems like the village chief is going to stick us on the same missions from now on. Not that he has much of a choice. I'm pretty sure we're the only ones who can fight here," she added with a smirk.

"That's true," I agreed. "It'll be hard to work together if we can't even trust each other. Who knows what sort of enemies we may encounter in the future? I'm not sure about you, but I know for a fact that there will be much stronger enemies that I'll encounter as I carry out my mission."

"What sort of mission?"

"I was thinking about discussing our backgrounds during dinner. It's been a long day," I added.

"Now that you mention it, I'm starving! Magic really takes a lot out of you." She hopped off the bunk and headed to the door. "You coming?"

"Of course," I answered, rising from where I was seated and joining her. "Here's hoping that the food is good," I joked.

* * *

The first thing we saw was Elsword gorging himself on meat. Aisha immediately went up to him and smacked him with her staff.

"What was that for?!" he snapped.

"You have the gall to stuff yourself like that when you didn't even introduce yourself to the person who saved your life?!" Aisha screeched back.

"That doesn't mean that you can just hit me with your staff like that!" he complained.

"I might stop if you actually introduce yourself to us!" she countered.

"Didn't you hear Lowe call my name, idiot?!"

"Of course I did, but you should be the one I hear your name from, not some stranger!"

"Look, guys," I attempted to talk above the mounting noise. "Can't you stop for just _one second_...?"

"Prissy brat!"

"Stupid idiot!"

"Prissy brat!"

"Stupid idiot!"

"Brat!

"Idiot!"

"Brat-"

" _GUYS_!" I ended up screaming. One look at my face told them I was absolutely _fuming_.

"LISTEN TO YOUR ELDERS!" I hissed. "KIDS NOWADAYS DON'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY MANNERS! STOP THIS USELESS SHOUTING AT ONCE! YOU SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER, NOW!"

The one called Elsword opened his mouth. "But... you're the loudest one of us-"

"NO BUTS! APOLOGIZE NOW!" The two others scrambled to get themselves to face each other.

"S-sorry," Aisha began.

"Y-yeah. Same," Elsword stammered back.

"Now then," I sighed, taking a seat by the table. "We should get to know each other, seeing as how we're probably going to be stuck together." I took a deep breath in to steady myself. "Who's going first?" I glanced at the two children. Both of them were still staring blankly at me, shocked into silence.

"Ahem."

"O-o-oh, right!" the boy eventually stuttered. "I'll go first!" He shifted his position slightly as he relaxed.

"My name's Elsword. I'm training to become a great swordsman, just like my sister!" I saw his face brighten up as he continued talking. "Have you ever heard the stories of the red-haired knight? That's my sister. She's the captain of the Red Knights, and I vowed to one day be as strong as her. She's been off on an adventure for almost two years now, but I know that she's just fine. After all, she's Elesis!" He broke off into a large smile at the end. "She'll come back eventually, I know it. That's why I have to get as strong as I can before she does! Then I can follow her whenever she goes on these adventures. I wonder where Sis is now...?" The last question was almost like an afterthought. I could feel my heart warm at his blind hope in his sister, although I couldn't help but think that his faith could crush him.

"I'll go next," Aisha interrupted. "You may not believe it, but I used to be much stronger than I was now!"

"That's not that hard to believe, since you're so weak," Elsword sniggered.

"Quiet! I'm speaking!" Aisha snapped, hitting him with her staff. "Anyways, I was known as a great magician, even though I was younger than most. I've traveled all over the world to learn more about magic and to become stronger. But then, one day while I was exploring these ancient ruins, I came across a magic ring. Before I knew it, all of my power was stolen from me in an instant. My mentor told me that the ring was somehow tied into the El Shards of the legends, so I came to Ruben to find and hopefully relearn all of my magic powers."

"That's it? Kinda boring," Elsword yawned.

"It's much better than yours!" Aisha yelled, smacking him with her staff again.

"Well, you didn't even say your name!"

"I already told you my name! You just weren't listening!" she huffed. "I'll let it slide since I'm nice. I'm Aisha, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"You don't sound pleased to me..." Elsword muttered.

"Can it, loser!" Aisha shouted, hitting him once more with her staff.

"It looks like I'm last," I smiled, trying _very_ hard not to yell at them again. "My name is Rena. I was sent from the Elder of my village to find the Tree of El. The purpose of this mission was to find and stop the cause of the El's fading power. However, when I finally arrived, I came across the bandits and overheard their plan to steal the El Shard. That's when I met all of you." I paused to take a breather before continuing. "While we still haven't retrieved the El Shard yet, I'm looking forward to working with you!"

 _Even though you can sometimes drive me nuts,_ I added in my head.

"Right, with all the introductions aside..." Elsword slammed his hands on the table. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"Do what?" I asked.

"You know, jump in mid-air!"

"I've been wanting to ask about that too," Aisha cut in. "Is that some form of magic or something?"

"I guess you could call it that," I began. "I use the natural power around me -that is, Nature's Force- to double-jump and perform other various feats. I can only gather a certain amount of Nature's Force though."

"Awesome! That's so cool!" Elsword burst out. He then began blabbing about how I could use the energy for other things.

"You're such a little kid!" Aisha sighed before turning to me. "How much Nature's Force can you gather?" she asked.

"I've found my limit is around when I can create five orbs made of pure energy without problem," I answer, creating one such orb for demonstration.

"That's less than I thought," Elsword said, stopping his little talk with himself.

"It's actually a lot more," I counter. "These orbs are made purely out of natural energy so it's quite difficult to get one of this size without proper training and energy. While we're on the topic, I can also enhance my arrows and my other attacks with Nature's Force."

"Are your arrows also made out of Nature's Force?" Aisha asked.

I shook my head. "They're made out of mana. I can only use Nature's Force to strengthen my attacks, not create them."

"Mana?" Elsword asked, seemingly clueless about the topic.

"You dummy!" Aisha shouted as she smacked him with her staff. "You claim to be strong when you don't even know what mana is?!"

"So what?!" Elsword shouted back. "All you need is a strong sword and you can deal with any threat!"

"Oh yeah?! What about that beast? You were getting pummeled by it!"

"I was just resting!" he shouted, his face turning a slightly reddish hue. "I could've beaten it on my own!"

"Mana is a form of life energy," I interrupted, not wanting the argument to go on any further. "It's essential for casting spells, magical attacks, and executing powerful skills."

"Not like a doofus like you could know," Aisha smirked.

"Shut up."

"While mana may be a form of life energy, there's usually no consequence for using it, unless you spend a large amount of mana all at once," I continued. "Even then, all it normally does is make you feel a little drained. It regenerates over time, so in normal circumstances you wouldn't need to worry about running out."

"Unless you're in the middle of a heated battle, where you need all the mana you can in order to perform your strongest attacks," Aisha interrupted.

"While you may be able to regenerate it, you don't have an infinite amount of mana, so you have to be careful when spending it."

"See the importance now?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Elsword sighed, rolling his eyes. "If what you said is true, then there's nothing I can do about it. It's not like I can make it regenerate faster or increase my capacity or something."

"That may be true, but more knowledge is always helpful," I try to reason. "Besides, who knows? It may help you in a battle one day."

"I doubt the bandits know about mana, seeing as how both of you are _oh so strong people_ ," he smirked.

"You shouldn't just shrug off some important knowledge!" Aisha yelled. "You little brat-"

"Glad to see you're all getting along."

I turned to see Lowe looking at the three of us with a slight smile. He was holding a large platter which he set down on the table.

"Help yourselves," he said. "I'll be going to look for Banthus so try not to wreck the place like you did last time."

 _Last time?_ I wondered before realizing that it must've involved Elsword somehow.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he replied, waving him off. He flung open the lid and grabbed a big chicken leg.

"Wow," I said on reflex. Aisha whistled. Inside the platter was a colorful salad, with leafy greens and various other vegetables sprinkled in. There were also chunks of meat scattered around. I took a bowl from the counter nearby and filled it with the food, being careful to avoid the meat.

"Are you not going to take any meat?" Aisha asked me, shoving as much food as she could into her own bowl.

"We're vegetarian," I explained. "I don't mind if others eat meat though."

"Suit yourself," Elsword mumbled, mouth stuffed full with food.

"Didn't you already eat?!" Aisha yelled, taking a fork and lifting it to her mouth. "You shouldn't talk while you're eating either!"

"If you don't like it you don't have to stare," he replied, downing himself with a glass of water.

"And what's with your eating habits? You can't just eat meat!" Aisha complained after finishing her mouthful. "Look at Rena! She's... er- you've got to get a good variety of nutrition!"

 _They're giving me a headache..._ I thought as I silently ate my meal. I listened to the two children argue back and forth about the most stupid little things, like how idiotic they were. A little while later, Hagus came in. Needless to say, I was glad that he came in.

"There you are," he began. "The townsfolk found some bandits while they were searching the forest for Banthus. They were causing touble in the fairy grounds that had existed before the El's explosion. It's possible that they could be related the Banthus. Could you go stop them before they cause more trouble?"

"The ruins, huh?" I thought aloud. "I wonder what kind of evil plan might be awaiting... let's go everyone!"

"But-!" Elsword shouted as Aisha and I rose from the table. "I'm not- my food!"

"That's what you get, sucker," Aisha snickered as we ran out the room.


	5. Chapter 5: Thief Phoru (Woop-dee-doo)

"I wasn't done eating!" Elsword complained for the fiftieth time. I nearly snapped back at him, but one -very annoyed- look from Rena stopped me. We were heading to the ruins, where bandits were supposedly causing a ruckus. I stopped at the sight of many small, furry, pale yellow animals.

"Phorus?!" I gasped in disbelief, my eyebrows shooting up like skyscrapers.

"What are they doing here?" Elsword asked.

"They must be the bandits that Hagus was talking about!" Rena deduced.

"I've seen them earlier," I commented, ignoring the looks that Rena and Elsword gave me. "Apparently they were looking for you… and called me a little girl in the process," I growled, thinking back to the time before I had run into Elsword. "I've had to teach them a lesson, but they didn't seem all that strong."

"This should be a breeze then," Elsword said. "I've had my share of run-ins with these guys, but from my experience they aren't particularly aggressive."

"At any rate, we'll have to be sure that these Phorus stop causing trouble here," Rena said, striding forward into the ruins. Elsword and I followed closely behind. As soon as the Phorus spotted us they attacked, rushing towards us like a hungry mob.

 _Which may very well be the case,_ I thought to myself. Some of the Phorus looked disheveled and scuffy, like they had constantly been on the move. I almost felt sorry that we were going to have to beat them up. Almost. The fact still stood that they were thieves.

" **Rail Stinger**!" Rena shouted, shooting an arrow that swept all of the Phorus off their feet. As we pushed onward deeper into the ruins, I noticed a few clumps of bushes scattered on the ground. I didn't pay much attention to them until they rose up out of the ground and also started attacking us.

"Gah!" Elsword screamed as he blocked the oncoming attacks with his sword. "What's with these guys?"

"They're the fairy guardians!" Rena exclaimed, dodging nimbly out of their way. "They must be rampaging because the power of the El is weakening!"

"Looks like we have no choice then!" I shouted, deciding not to bother questioning how Rena knew that. " **Chain Fireball**!" A stream of fireballs erupted from the end of my staff, piercing through the forest guardians and effectively knocking them out. Elsword charged ahead of me, slamming the door blocking our way forward open with his sword.

"Do you think these Phorus are related to Banthus?" I asked.

"I don't think so, but there's always the possibility," Rena answered. "I can feel a faint trace of El lingering in the air. On any other day, I probably would've arrived here to explore."

We stopped to see an even bigger group of Phorus, forest guardians, and other mysterious forest dwellers.

"There's so many Phorus…" I muttered, readying my staff. Elsword blew past me and faced the enemies head on, hacking and slashing through hordes at a time.

"He's so reckless!" I sighed as I joined in the fight. I could hear arrow after arrow flying from Rena's bow, flying true to their mark. I turned my attention back to the mob that I was facing, a group of the mysterious forest dwellers. They almost looked like knights made out of trees, what with their coloring and their bodies.

 _Like little tree knights, hm?_ I thought to myself as I knocked them all out. "Well, none of you stood a chance!"

"What did you say?" Elsword said as he walked up to me.

"N-nothing!" I stammered. "Nothing important."

 _I seriously need to work on breaking that habit, now that I'm fighting with others,_ I cringed inwardly.

Rena walked up beside me and kicked at the door. "It's closed tighter than I thought," she admitted as she took a few steps back. She then flew at the door feet-first, busting it open with her own two feet. I felt my eyes widen in awe.

 _How crazy strong_ is _this elf?_ I wondered. As we walked through the door, we noticed a lone Phoru in leather overalls with its back turned away from us. As we got closer, all three of us noticed that the Phoru was counting treasures, smiling gleefully as it did so.

 _That has to be the leader,_ I thought. I was sure that all of the others were thinking the same.

"Who are you?" Elsword shouted, pointing his sword at the Phoru.

 _...Okay,_ one _of the others._

Instead of answering, the Phoru jumped in surprise and attempted to run away while carrying as many stolen goods as possible.

"You're not getting away!" Elsword shouted as he charged, finally getting the memo. Rena followed a little way behind while I decided to stand still and begin charging up mana. Instead of running away, the Phoru instead pulled out a large sword and attacked.

"Y-you dare challenge the great William Phoru?" the Phoru asked. "I'll beat you brats down to a pulp!"

"Like a thief will ever beat me!" Elsword responded, running up to William and thrusting his sword into the ground. " **Flame Geyser**!" Plumes of fire burst out of the earth, sending William flying into the air.

" **Perfect… Storm**!" Rena shouted, somehow firing a green tornado out of her bow and juggling William in the air. As the Phoru fell towards the ground, I teleported directly below him and prepared my spell.

" **Gust Screw**!" I cried, summoning a cyclone made of burning hot air. William fell straight into the spell, shrieking as the Phoru got buffeted around by its winds. He finally fell to the floor, a little burnt and a little bruised, but otherwise fine.

"Now will you give up?" Elsword asked, standing over the Phoru menacingly and glaring at him.

"Y-yes! Yes!" William shrieked.

Rena walked over to him, observing the Phoru with a careful eye and putting her foot on him so he wouldn't escape. In the meantime, I decided to pawn through the stash of goods that had spilled all over the floor. To my relief, nothing seemed all that important, although there were a few wooden sculptures sprinkled here and there.

"W-what else do you need?!" I heard William's desperate voice say, struggling in vain to escape Rena's grasp. "Just let me go!"

"Not until we have your word that you won't steal from Ruben or anywhere near here ever again," Rena commanded, frowning at the Phoru.

"I promise!" William gasped, struggling to escape Rena's vice-like grip.

"Do you really, truly promise?"

"Yes!"

"If we find you here again," I began. "We won't hesitate to attack. Got that?"

William nodded vigorously.

"Good," I sighed. "Now get out of here!"

William scurried out of sight. We made sure that he had disappeared before checking up on the other Phorus that had swarmed the ruins. Telling all of the Phorus which way William had gone and what had happened was tedious, but we eventually made it back outside of the ruins.

"Looks like you do know how to use a little magic," I teased as I stretched my semi-tired limbs, dropping to the ground to rest.

"It sure was a long day," Rena groaned, as the light of the sun slowly faded to be replaced by night.

"Oi, race you guys back to the village!" I heard Elsword shout as he suddenly shot forward.

"Hey! You cheater!" I cried. No wonder he didn't respond to my taunt. I got up as fast as I could and raced after him, leaving Rena behind to catch up to the two of us.

* * *

 **A/N** : I couldn't help but notice that all three of their level 5 skills involved moving an opponent (launching, levitating, and pushing) so I thought I'd torture one William Phoru with them -w-

Anywayys! Since I like replying to other people and most of my favorite authors do this kind of thing..

 **Yeelimso** : Thanks! For a moment I thought that people weren't legitimately reading this o3o

 **Jetstream Girge** : Criticisms! Gimme :3 And yeah, I see what you mean. The first three chapters really _were_ a rehashing, and I was rushing through those first three because I _reeeeally_ wanted to get to Elder and Velder as quickly as possible... I'm going to have to rewrite those three later :/ Speaking of Velder... I've got a _ton_ of plans for that arc (while I've got practically nothing for Bethma, Altera, Feita, Hamel, Sander, and Lanox... I seriously need to break the habit of planning way too far ahead at the huge climactic moments) since that arc is one of the first/early 'war heavy' dungeon/story arcs. At any rate, here's hoping I fixed up the pacing a little in this and future chapters! /crosses fingers/


	6. Chapter 6: Bandits, Thoughts, and Others

"I win!" Aisha cried as she teleported back into the village.

"You dirty cheater!" Elsword complained as he ran into the village.

"Well, you had an early start, so it's fair," Aisha shot back. I lingered behind them, unwilling to admit that I had held back on purpose so I could keep an eye on them.

"Guys," I interrupted after their argument had gone on for a bit. "We have to report to Hagus."

"Oh- right!" Elsword exclaimed, running to the chief's office. "Hagus! We found who was causing trouble in the ruins! They were a group of Phorus!"

"Phorus?" Hagus questioned as he stepped outside the door. "Those docile creatures are causing trouble in the ruins?"

"Docile? They didn't look like it at all," Aisha growled.

"There was a Phoru called William leading all of the others," Elsword added. "I've smacked some sense into him and made him promise to never do it again."

"Great, now they won't be able to cause any more trouble," Hagus smiled. "But what are we going to do about Banthus…" He paused as he looked at the three of us. "You all should go to sleep. You've had quite the day, fighting bandits and Phorus."

"Right," Aisha agreed, yawning. She headed towards the direction of the training center before pausing. "Rena? Aren't you coming?"

"I'll catch up," I answered. "There's still a few things I have to take care of."

"Suit yourself," Elsword yawned. Aisha slapped him with her staff.

"Don't you think you should care a little?" she hissed.

"So what? She said she'll be coming along soon. And why do you keep hitting me? That hurts!"

"That doesn't excuse your behavior! And I keep hitting you so you can shut up!"

The two walked onward, bickering until they were out of earshot. I turned to Hagus, opening my mouth before he interrupted me.

"You're wondering about the ruins, yes?"

"How did you know that?" The words burst out of my mouth before I could take them back. I cleared my throat before continuing. "Yes, I was. I could detect faint traces of El energy there, but since we were in the middle of a battle, I thought it best to wait until I had returned to the village."

"You're a smart elf," Hagus remarked. "Speaking of which, those ruins are ancient Elven ruins. I presume you felt a sense of familiarity?"

"That's right. It really does explain a lot of things," I added. I bowed to him. "Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions."

"You needn't thank me at all," Hagus responded. "Now, shouldn't you go get some sleep? It might be another long day tomorrow, what with Banthus on the loose."

"I've got a few more things I want to do," I answered. "You shouldn't worry about me, I know that I'll need rest for tomorrow."

"If you say so, miss."

"Oh no, call me Rena," I said as I turned away. "The least I can do is tell you my name after all your hospitality."

"Very well then, Rena," Hagus smiled. "Take care on your journeys."

* * *

I walked around the town for a little bit before finally settling on the shore of Noah's Lake. The dark of the night was illuminated by the occasional glow of the El tree. I smiled. Even with the El Shard stolen, it seemed as though there was still a little bit of El left in the air. The Elder's words echoed back to me.

 _"The power of the El is fading."_

"Elder, what would you say about me now?" I wondered out loud. "You said that I was the only one suited for this mission, but I can't help but wonder... what if you were wrong?" I sighed to myself, staring down at the clear blue water, now reflecting a deep cobalt. "I failed to protect the El from the bandits... I failed to retrieve the El from the bandits... Am I not strong enough?" I silently watched the calm waters, rippling every time a stray fairy guardian or a Phoru walked through it's cool, clear surface.

I knew what some of the people from my village would've said.

 _"You shouldn't worry so much, Rena! You're so strong, I'm sure you'll be able to fulfill any mission that the Elder gives you."_

 _If only that were true,_ I whispered in my head. _If_ _I can't prevent the El's power from crumbling to dust... then what will happen to the people in my village? What will happen to you?_

My frown deepened. Our lives depended on the El. If it truly was to disappear... I didn't want to think about the rest.

"Can't sleep?" I heard a voice behind me. I whipped around as fast as I could.

But no one was there.

 _I must have imagined it,_ I thought as I blinked to confirm the emptiness. I could have sworn it sounded exactly like her... But she wouldn't be here. There was no way she could be here. I was on my own now. I had to succeed, for them.

A yawn forced its way out of my throat, interrupting my grim thoughts. I smiled to myself as I got up and headed back to the training center.

* * *

"I hope you all got a good night's sleep, 'cause we've got a problem," Lowe informed us. We were seated around the table, nibbling on our toast. I shot up in surprise once I heard the news.

"William's causing trouble _again_? I'm pretty sure I already dealt with him."

"It's not him, dummy!" Aisha huffed, hitting me with her staff. I glared angrily at her, knowing that I couldn't protest in case Rena got mad at me. "We're looking for five artifacts, right? Some of the other Phorus must have run off with the stolen relics since I didn't see any in the pile of items that William had."

"Oh, that reminds me," Rena cut in. "I did see a few Phorus wandering around Noah's Lake. Perhaps we can start our search there?"

"Right!" I decided. "C'mon, we're going to Noah's Lake!" I dashed into the hallway and headed my way out. The thudding of footsteps behind me confirmed that the others were following.

While running through the village, I skid to a stop at the sight of Ann, the village's local shopkeeper, blocking my way.

"I heard that Phorus are still causing trouble in the ruins!" she exclaimed, still clutching tightly to a feather duster. "Those ruins are a big part of the village's tourism! We have to protect it!"

"Already on it, feisty lady..." I muttered.

"Sh! Quiet!" Aisha hissed.

"We're on our way to find the Phorus who stole the relics right now, ma'am," Rena stepped in.

"Please hurry! We don't know when Banthus might show up again to cause trouble, after all!" She continued to watch us as we stepped past her and ran onward. Shortly after, we saw the bright waters of the lake before us.

"Where to find those sneaky little runts..." I thought out loud.

"This way!" Rena called, leaping over the water and onto one of the small islands. I followed her, opting to splash through the water instead of jumping over. I heard a hiss from Aisha as she (somehow?) levitated herself across.

"Did you have to splash through like that?" she huffed as she landed next to me. "You got my clothes wet!"

"They'll dry off eventually!" I countered. "Besides, you didn't even get that wet!"

"Children." Rena's warning tone abruptly quieted the both of us. I carefully walked past her so I could see if there were any Phorus around. To my surprise, there were quite a few, walking around in plain sight.

"You'd think that if they stole ancient relics they'd be a little more inconspicuous," Aisha remarked.

"True," Rena agreed, lifting her bow and firing at one of the Phorus. The arrow hit it square in the foot. "How about Aisha and I take on these four Phorus while you go look for a fifth?" she asked me.

"Why do you guys get to take on more?" I complained. "And quit ordering me around like a little kid!"

"Why don't you just _do it_?" Aisha snapped back at me. We both glared at each other for a second before Rena clapped her hands together.

"Aisha, could you go take care of the two over there? I'll ask this Phoru to hand over the relics that they're holding. In case they aren't, just ask them to tell you which Phoru has the relic."

"Got it."

I sighed as I turned around and delved further into the various bushes.

"Heeere, little Phoru," I grumbled. As if by magic, a Phoru popped in front of me.

"Gotcha!" I yelled, hitting it on the head with my sword. "Hand over the relic you stole!"

"I-I don't have any!" the Phoru stammered.

"Stop playing innocent and give it up!" I raised my sword. "Or do you want to get hit again?"

"Eeeeee! Alright! Alright! Here it is, so take it!" It hastily pulled out a small, pale yellow artifact before scurrying away.

 _Well, that was easier than I_ _thought_. I walked over to the relic and picked it up. _Since they're so cowardly I bet the others have already found the stolen relics._

Sure enough, when I walked back to them, they were each holding two of the stolen relics.

"That sure was easy," Aisha remarked.

"No kidding," I said as I walked back to the village.

"You better be careful not drop that!" Aisha yelled at me.

"What makes you think that I'll drop it!" I snapped. "I'm not _that_ stupid!" I rolled my eyes as she continued lecturing me about the importance of being careful- not that I would understand at all- until Ann came up and interrupted us.

"You've found the relics? Thank you so much!" she exclaimed. "The ruins are a village treasure. I would hate to see it fall to ruin."

"I thought they were already in ruin? That's why they're called _ruins_ ," I whispered to myself. Aisha glared at me, the look in her eyes obviously telling me to "cut it out".

"No problem," Rena answered, again taking up the lead. "We wouldn't want bandits to cause trouble for you or any of the villagers, after all." She glanced around. "Where's Lowe?"

"He left a little while ago," Ann replied. "Shortly after you guys left, he suddenly rushed out of camp."

"That's strange," I said out loud. "It's not like him to run off like that. Actually- wait. It is." Aisha sighed and gave me an "are you serious" look.

"I suppose we should wait in front of the training center?" Rena thought out loud. "It's not like there's much else to do."

"We can always train more," I suggested.

"Do you ever think of anything else other than getting stronger?"

"Of course I do!"

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like I would tell you!" I snapped at her. "Why should I be forced to tell you everything that I think?"

"I highly doubt you even think of anything else other than getting stronger!"

"What was that?!"

"GUYS!" Rena screamed. "Honestly, all you two do is argue!" she sighed, a hand to her head. "Get it together! I've already told you before, but since we're going to be fighting together we should _at least_ get along!"

"Speaking of fighting," Aisha interrupted, pointing behind Rena. Lowe was hurrying back, looking slightly singed for some strange reason.

"Sorry to leave so suddenly," he said as he came up to us. "We received news that Banthus was heading towards Elder so I attempted to intercept him."

"Well? Did you catch him?" I asked.

Lowe shook his head. "The fastest way to get to Elder is through the White Mist Swamp. However, once I arrived the Ancient Phoru attacked and I lost him."

"Tch, so you couldn't do it after all?" I groaned. Next to me Aisha merely frowned disappointingly and shook her head.

"S-shut up!" Lowe snapped.

"Ah... I'm sorry on their behalf," Rena sighed, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Anyways!" Lowe continued. "We can't really treat it badly because it's a holy beast. There's a myth that the Ancient Phoru within White Mist Swamp is actually created by the El Shard to protect itself from harm."

"It was made by the power of the El?" I gasped.

"Considering our situation... it looks as though the Ancient Phoru is going rogue because the El Shard was stolen," Rena guessed.

"Holy beast or not..." Lowe began. "If it keeps getting in our way we'll have no choice."

"No!" Ann exclaimed, apparently overhearing our conversation. "The Ancient Phoru has been protecting this forest for a very long time! The ones at fault are the bandits who stole the El Shard!"

"Like she says... you'll have to do it without harming it too much. Can I count on you?"

"Of course!" I answered.

"We've already defeated every other enemy, so it shouldn't be a problem," Aisha added.

"Right then, we should start packing," Rena decided, clapping her hands together. "After all, who knows what sort of trouble we might encounter once we arrive in Elder."

* * *

So much planning to do, especially at endgame... owo

 **Yeelimso** : Yes, they will _most definitely_ be meeting XD As for what I'm going to do for Lanox... I have absolutely no idea! /shrugs/ I'm not going to be moving on to the Elysion arc if that's what you were wondering (partially because that story arc isn't even finished/released yet...)


	7. Chapter 7: Onward!

**A/N:** POV is in 3rd person for this chappie. I'm not sure if I'll stick with 3rd person for all the chappies, but right now I'm making plans for future chappies to be 3rd person (maybe, idk)

* * *

"Water?"

"Check."

"Food?"

"Check."

"Medical supplies?"

"Check."

"A map?"

"Ch- oh wait. Nevermind. Hold on. I'll go get one."

"Backup weapons?"

"Che- Why would we need them?" Elsword's indignant voice rang out. "We're strong enough on our own, aren't we?"

"You never know what can happen," Aisha replied, walking back with a map rolled up in her hands. "It's best to be prepared, dummy."

"Are we all set?" Lowe asked, peeking in through the door.

"Almost," Rena replied. She grabbed the map from Aisha and carefully slotted it into one of the many pockets of the backpack. "Right then," she said, hefting it onto herself. "Both of you, grab one and then let's head out."

"Elder is an important town for trade and travel," Lowe informed as they walked down the hallway. "We receive quite a lot of supplies from them, and Hagus personally knows Hoffman, one of the head merchants of the town."

"A town of merchants, huh? To be honest I can't really trust them due to past experiences…" Aisha muttered.

"It'll be fine," Rena reassured. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the blinding rays of the sun as they stepped out. It was still quite early, around mid-morning. "How long do you think it's going to take to get to Elder?"

"Depending on the amount of resistance we encounter, I'd say around a few hours or so," Lowe replied. "Elder is quite far compared to every other landmark around here. This is a small place, after all."

"Isn't the town going to be left defenseless if we just leave?" Aisha asked.

"There's a reason we have a training center. I'm sure the trainees will be fine with guarding the town. However, they're still trainees, which is why I haven't asked them to go out and find the El Shard."

"So you're basically saying we're the only ones strong enough, right?" Elsword commented, a slight grin on his face. They were now walking across the stretch of shore along Noah's Lake.

"I suppose you could say that," Lowe agreed begrudgingly. "Don't let it get to your head, though. We turn right here," he added, pointing at a small gap in between the trees on that side. "If we continue straight we should end up directly at the White Mist Swamp."

"Then what are we waiting for?" He charged straight ahead, followed by one Aisha yelling at him to quit charging off on his own. Rena merely sighed before following after them.

"Slow down!" she called. "We've still got to travel a couple of hours!"

"Yeah, yeah," Elsword grumbled, seemingly reluctant about listening to her but doing so anyway. For about an hour, only the soft crunching of footsteps and the faint hum of the forest resounded through the air.

"There it is," Lowe said, his voice piercing through the silence. Before them was a faint cloud of mist, marking the border of the White Mist Swamp.

"Finally," Aisha groaned as she sat down. "My feet were starting to get sore from all of that walking."

"Do you want to rest for a little before we move on?" Rena asked.

"No thanks, I'm fine," Aisha replied, waving off her hand. She clutched her staff tightly as she rose. "I can light some fireballs to clear away some of the mist."

"The mist isn't so heavy to warrant such an act," Lowe said. "The fireballs will only draw the attention of the Ancient Phoru. We're trying to avoid it if at all possible."

"Like Ann said, the Ancient Phoru is a holy beast. We wouldn't want to do anything that we know will draw its attention," Rena explained. She was cut off by an abrupt scream from Elsword, who suddenly disappeared.

"I'm fine!" he shouted after a few moments, his voice drifting from below the rest. "Ouch..."

"What happened?" Rena asked.

"I fell off a cliff..." he grumbled. Aisha jumped forward and levitated herself down. Rena and Lowe followed after allowing their eyes to adjust more, deftly landing safely next to Elsword and Aisha.

"You _totally_ screamed like a girl," Aisha teased.

"Shut up!" Elsword snapped. "I was just surprised!" Rena couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.

"Well, let's get going," she called, turning to face forward again. As she did so, she locked eyes with a fox masked bandit in dark green rushing at her. In the blink of an eye she leaped back, firing a round from her bow. As the bandit fell, a second bandit leaped from behind him to ambush them. A slew of fireballs erupted from the end of Aisha's staff, smacking the bandit full in the face.

"It looks as though they won't be able to do much now," Lowe said, inspecting the now unconscious bandits. "Keep your guard up, everyone. We're now in enemy territory."

The four of them walked onward cautiously. Out of almost nowhere, a knife whizzed at Elsword. He quickly blocked with his sword and charged. By the time Rena and the others had caught up, he had already beaten up the bandit responsible.

"You shouldn't keep charging forward like that!" Aisha yelled. She then turned to Lowe. "Since this place is called the White Mist Swamp I thought that it would be more 'swampy'."

"That's because we're traveling along the only pathway through," Lowe said. "It's the only to get to Elder through the White Mist Swamp. Heads up," he added. "We've got company."

In front of them were two very buff looking bandits, complete with clubs. True to form, Elsword was the first to charge ahead, sword swinging. Lowe followed shortly behind. In moments, the two swordsmen sent the bandits sprawling on the ground. Aisha's eyes widened, clearly showing how impressed she was. Rena couldn't help but feel the same way.

"Piece of cake. At this rate, we'll be out of here in no time!"

"It wasn't the bandits that I was worried about," Lowe said as he strode ahead.

 _It must be the Ancient Phoru,_ Rena thought to herself as she followed. _It_ is _a holy beast after all._

"Say, how strong do you think the Ancient Phoru is?" Aisha asked her.

"I don't know," Rena replied. "But if the legends hold true and it was created by the El Shard it must be pretty powerful."

"Oi! Hurry up!" Elsword called.

"You don't have the right to say that!" Aisha snapped as she teleported over to him. She then promptly hit him with her staff. "You're so impatient! And you're always charging off on your own!"

"What was that for?!" Elsword yelled as he rubbed the spot where she hit him.

"I just _told_ you!"

Rena merely shook her head and gave a strained smile as she stepped forward. That was when a certain pink-feathered bird fell out of the trees and bashed her on the head. The poor bird didn't stand a chance.

* * *

I'm planning out Velder when I haven't even finished planning out Elder... /gunshot/

 **Gol** : Thanks for the criticisms! I can see how someone can see that now that you've pointed it out to me. I think Rena's character is easier for me because she's the easiest for me to write. Elsword and Aisha, on the other hand... yeah. (and now that I think about it, there's quite a few characters that are going to be a pain...) Hopefully I'll be able to fix it up in future chapters! (I don't think this one changed much though, since most of it was written before the review... rippu)


	8. Chapter 8: Smoky Swamp

"I feel kind of bad for beating up those forest dwellers like that…" Rena sighed. Aisha nearly gaped at her.

 _You were the one who started beating them all up!_ She shared a glance with Elsword. _Rena is_ really _scary sometimes…_

"We still haven't seen the Ancient Phoru yet, huh…"

"No signs of Banthus either," Elsword grumbled. "It's like one of them jumps out at us no-"

"AAAHH!" Elsword and Aisha both screamed as a giant gray monkey flew out of the mist. Quick as a flash, Rena drew her bow and fired, sending three arrows neatly through the attacker. The monkey fell to the ground, roaring as it got up. Aisha wasted no time. She swiftly sent three fireballs spiraling towards the monkey. Elsword and Lowe followed suite, delivering a solid (and painful) hit to its head.

"I swear," Aisha began. "You have the worst timing."

"What do you mean?"

She merely facepalmed.

"We're almost through. Keep your guard up. You never know when the Ancient Phoru will pop out," Lowe warned.

 _Is this also going to...?_

"It's here!"

 _Knew it._

* * *

"Out of the way!" Rena yelled as she readied her bow. After checking to make sure that no one was in the line of fire, she let loose.

" **Rail Stinger**!"

The arrow flew straight and true, blasting through the Ancient Phoru. However, it merely roared and looked straight at Rena.

"You alright?" she panted, giving a quick glance at Aisha. Her clothes were ripped from where the Ancient Phoru's claws had grazed her.

"I'm fine!" she huffed in reply as she teleported to the Ancient Phoru. " **Gust Screw**!"

" **Mega Slash**!" Elsword chimed in as he thrust himself at the Ancient Phoru, somehow managing it to stagger back a few steps.

"Watch out!" Lowe warned. "Take cover!"

The Ancient Phoru roared and leaned forward, blasting fire all over the clearing. Luckily for the gang, they had all dove flat onto the ground and out of the way.

"Now!" Elsword shouted as he charged. Everyone else followed suit. Rena slid in with a kick and began letting the arrows fly. Lowe was chipping away at the Ancient Phoru by weaving in between its legs. Aisha was sending fireball after fireball at the Ancient Phoru. For some strange reason, the Ancient Phoru tucked in its head. It then thrust itself forward, sending everyone flying into the trees. Rena felt the breath burst out of her lungs when she crashed into a tree. She fell to the ground, gasping and choking for breath.

 _I definitely got myself a couple of bruises..._ she grimaced.

"Is everyone alright?" Lowe called out, his voice sounding a tad bit sore.

"Yeah!"

"I'm good!"

"I think!" Aisha croaked. She scooched her way over to Rena. "Buy me some time!" she hissed. "I need to charge up a little more mana!"

"Consider it done," Rena replied, picking up her bow and circling around to get a better position.

"Take this!" they heard Elsword yell as he charged once again at the Ancient Phoru. Rena began firing arrow after arrow, forcing the Ancient Phoru to shift its attention between her and Elsword.

"Clear out!" Aisha yelled as she raised her staff. " **Chain... Fireball**!" she cried as she thrust her staff at the Ancient Phoru. It finally fell to the ground, letting out a shrill cry as it did so.

"Is it down?" Elsword panted.

"I think so," Lowe replied as he inspected the holy beast. "I guess there was no way around it..."

"Ann was right. We have to take back the El right away," Rena affirmed. She headed back to where they had flung off their bags when the battle had started.

"Unfortunately, this is as far as I'll be going with you," Lowe said.

"Whaaat?" Elsword and Aisha both chorused.

"Aren't you going to stick with us until we find the El Shard?" Elsword asked.

Lowe shook his head. "I still have duties to fulfill in the town. Hagus and I have already talked over it and we've decided that you three will have to continue on your own. I'll report what happened here to Hagus."

Rena pulled out medical supplies out of her bag and began laying them on the ground. "I suppose this is where we'll be parting then. We'll be staying here a bit to recoup."

"Right, I'll be off," Lowe said as he headed back into the mist, out of sight.

"Gather 'round," Rena called to the other two. "We need to tend to your wounds." She grabbed onto Aisha first and inspected her.

 _Nothing serious,_ she thought. She grabbed a roll of gauze and a couple of bandages and handed them over to Aisha. She then turned to Elsword. After examination, she noticed a particularly nasty bruise on his head. She grabbed another roll of gauze and began wrapping it around his head, making sure to be applying the right amount of pressure. Once she was done, she then looked at herself.

"You idiot!" she heard Aisha cry as she grabbed Elsword's arm. "Look at this burn! Why in the world are you trying to hide it?" She scanned the items scattered on the ground.

"I'm fine! Just take care of yourself," Elsword argued as he looked away.

"You have to treat it if you don't want it to get worse," she growled as she grabbed a bottle of burn medicine and began applying it on Elsword.

 _Oh? It seems that no matter how much they argue she actually cares about him,_ Rena laughed to herself as she watched the scene unfold. She finished tending to the last of her wounds and stood up, slinging on her backpack as she did so.

"Let's get out of this mist and find a better place to have lunch," she said.

"Finally!" Elsword exclaimed. "I'm starving!" He ran ahead of the others until they walked out of the mist.

"This should be a good spot," Rena said. They had reached a small clearing, much smaller than the one in which they had fought the Ancient Phoru in. Setting down her bag, she relaxed as she sat down. "It's about time we had lunch, don't you think?"

"Between fighting and walking, I can definitely use some food right now."

Elsword dived into his own bag and began chowing down, stuffing food into his mouth. "That's much better," he mumbled, mouth full.

"Finish eating before you start talking!" Aisha snapped. Elsword rolled his eyes and did what she said.

Rena smiled and bit into her own sandwich. _At least they seem to be getting along a little bit better..._ She glanced at her watch.

"Looking at the time right now, I think we can expect to arrive in Elder in the evening."

"And then we just have to find the guy named Hoffman, right?" Elsword asked, shoving yet another piece of bread in his mouth.

"Yeah... HOW MUCH ARE YOU GOING TO EAT?!" Aisha gasped.

"Until I'm full, duh."

"You shouldn't just scarf down everything like that! At least _try_ to savor it!"

"And why should you tell me how to eat?"

"Guys, guys," Rena attempted to interrupt nicely. Unfortunately, her voice went unheard amid the clamoring of the two kids.

 _I suppose I should expect this to be normal routine by now..._ she thought, lips twitching into a strained smile. _But I still can't help but get... annoyed... out of my mind... whenever this happens..._

"WILL YOU GUYS QUIT IT?!" she finally screamed, shooting up abruptly. "Since both of you are _arguing_ so much I _assume_ you're done?!"

"A-a-ah no, ma'am."

"Then sit down, SHUT UP, and finish eating!" She heaved a big sigh and sat back down. Pulling out a map, she spread it out on the ground as she nibbled on her sandwich.

 _The route Lowe told us to travel is this way..._ she thought as she pulled out a marker and carefully outlined the pathway. She then picked up a different colored marker and circled Elder village. _I hope I'll be able to get my hands on a more detailed map of Elder once we arrive..._

Unbeknownst to Rena, Aisha and Elsword were whisper-arguing as quietly as they could while pretending to be eating.

"For the record, you still suck," Aisha hissed.

"You're more stupid."

"Can it, little boy."

"Quit calling me little when you're the same size as me."

"Well, I'm older so I can do whatever I wan-"

"Alright then!" Rena exclaimed, bouncing up and slinging on her bag. "If we're all done, shall we head to Elder?"

"Ahm, er, yeah!" Aisha gasped, startled but trying hard not to show it. Elsword snickered at her, picking himself off the ground.

"I'm all set," he said, shooting a smug look at Aisha. This didn't go unnoticed by Rena.

"Hmm? Did something happen between you two? Like, say, a certain..." she leaned in and made a tiny heart with her fingers, a teasing glint in her eye.

"Wait- what?!" Elsword stammered, his face beginning to turn a shade of red. Now it was Aisha's turn to laugh at him. "I'll never do that with _her_!"

"And I'll never go out with Elbrat here," Aisha laughed as she jabbed her thumb in his direction.

"Oh? Who's to say that you won't?" Rena smiled.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Aisha asked, suddenly breaking off her laughter and blushing angrily at Rena.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you two," Rena giggled as she turned around and walked on ahead. _Ahh, youth. I feel kind of bad for scolding them and then teasing them, but... they're just_ sooo _cute,_ she sighed happily. _Well, they certainly have better chances than most. You never know what can happen, after all._

"Right then!" Rena smiled. "Off to Elder!"

* * *

Aaand with that, we're finally moving out of Ruben! /is hoping that things will actually pick up/ Soon... very soon... we'll be getting to the good stuff... :3

Also, I only just noticed this now, but Velder is literally Elder with a V. yeah. considering what's going to happen in Velder, I find it very appropriate owo


	9. Chapter 9: Elder la vista!

"There! I can see it!" Aisha cried as she pointed at the white and yellow brick pathway leading into a cluster of similarly built houses.

"It's really big," Elsword commented as he gazed down at the town.

"It _is_ a big trade center, from what Lowe told us," Aisha replied.

"I wonder how we're going to find one person among all those people…" he thought out loud, ignoring Aisha's remarks.

"Listen when I'm _talking_ to you-!"

"We'll just have to enter and see for ourselves," Rena cut in, striding down the hill confidently. Aisha and Elsword trailed behind. As they entered Elder they noticed a man talking to another person, presumably a merchant from the large wooden cart behind him.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot help you. I've had six other merchants report this to me today, and I've told all of them the same thing. Until the guards get their act together and actually _do_ something for once, there's nothing I can do."

"Tch! You may be the head of us merchants in Elder but you're sure as hell useless," the merchant hissed as he marched away, dragging his empty cart along with him. Aisha shared a glance with Rena.

 _The head of merchants…?_

Elsword walked up to the man as soon as the other merchant left. "So are you Hoffman? Do you know of a bandit named Banthus?"

"...Ahem," Rena coughed as Aisha shot daggers at Elsword. "Excuse me sir, are you Mr. Hoffman? Head of the merchants in Elder? We've come to see you as Hagus instructed."

"That would be me. I've heard a lot about you from Hagus," Hoffman smiled. "Why don't you come to my house? We can talk there."

"Yes please, my legs are killing me," Aisha agreed as the three of them followed Hoffman.

* * *

"Are you sure this was the right decision?" Lowe and Hagus were both sitting in the chief's office, debating with each other. "Elsword may have been strong, but he's still a child. As for the other two, they're only travellers, and they don't have any reason to help us."

"The elf, Rena, is quite diligent. I'm sure she'll be able to help Elsword retrieve the El. As for your other point… those two travellers wouldn't have helped us if they didn't want to. I'm sure it'll be fine entrusting them to carry on the search. Besides, you had them join the El Scouts for a reason."

"Well, I didn't think it would come to this," Lowe sighed. "And I thought that I'd be accompanying them if we did have to go out of the area. I suppose you're right, though." He frowned. "I can't help but worry. We may have a few months left before the absence of the El really starts affecting us, but the sooner we get back the El Shard, the less decay the forest will undergo."

"I know." They both sat there in silence for a while. "However, it's not as though we have much of a choice. You need to stay here for your training duties, and by the time we can inform any of the Red Knights it might already be too late."

"I know that," Lowe sighed once again. "Well, I suppose it was about time Elsword left this town. He's gotten pretty strong. With the help of those two travellers, I'm sure he'll be able to find his sister one day."

"Hopefully the other two travellers will be able to accomplish their goals as well," Hagus added. "I can't shake off the feeling that they've come to Ruben with a purpose."

"We'll just have to wait and see, huh…" Lowe stretched out his arms as he rose. "Speaking of travellers, have you heard that a blonde haired boy in white armor hailing from Hamel came to visit this place?"

"Hamel? That's quite far away. Hamel _is_ located in the southern continent Fluone, after all."

"Apparently, he wanted to see the famous El Shard of Ruben, but when I told him about the situation he immediately promised he would do everything he could to get it back."

"That's quite an energetic young lad," Hagus smiled.

"Quit dodging around with statements. I bet you didn't even know that he was in the village," Lowe accused.

"I suppose I've been slacking off a little in my duties as chief lately," Hagus chuckled. "Did you tell him about Elsword and the other two looking for the El Shard as well?"

"I told him everything I knew, seeing as how he was so eager to help. He already left for Elder a while ago."

"Say, how old is this boy?"

"Hm? I never asked, but he seemed to be around the same size as Elsword."

"So he's possibly the same age as Elsword? I must say, if those two ever meet it'll likely turn out quite interesting. For a boy to travel so far… It probably puts him on par with Elsword in terms of natural talent."

"Yeah," Lowe agreed. "Anyway, I'm off. I've got rookies to train." He raised a hand in farewell as he left the office.

"A boy in white armor hailing from Hamel…" Hagus muttered to himself after Lowe left. "Well, there's no point in dwelling on it." He turned to his paperwork before stopping abruptly. "I wonder if Elsword has arrived in Elder by now…?"

* * *

"More tea?" Hoffman asked.

"No thanks. We've had enough tea," Aisha declined. "Could you tell us about Banthus?"

"Hmm… Well, you see, Banthus is quite known in Elder as well. Recently, other villages have had their El Shard go missing, just like in Ruben. Not only that, but the Lord of Elder, Wally, isn't doing a single thing to help. All of his guards are locked up in the castle."

"How do you know the situation in the other villages are the same as Ruben's?" Rena questioned. "It's always possible that it simply went missing, instead of being stolen." Rena frowned, before amending her statement. "Even though it _is_ highly unlikely."

"There's been a huge increase of bandits roaming around the area," Hoffman answered. "That's all the proof we need. El Shards simply do not go missing overnight. One El Shard, maybe. Like you said, while it is unlikely, there's always the possibility of the El Shard simply being missing. However, it's impossible for so many El Shards to just disappear. It has to be the bandits. Besides, they haven't stuck to stealing just El Shards either."

"You're kidding me," Aisha groaned.

Hagus nodded. "Many traveling merchants have been robbed as they go in and out of Elder."

"So that's why there were so many bandits on our way here…" Elsword muttered under his breath.

"Needless to say, a lot of the merchants are very unhappy as a result. Because of that, many of them will probably be unwilling to help you."

"What?!" Elsword burst out. "We're trying to locate Ruben's El Shard, which is probably with Banthus, who is the leader of a gang of bandits! Why _wouldn't_ they want to help?"

"They do not believe that you are capable enough," Hagus answered simply. "To merchants, trust is one of the most important things, and they would not be willing to trust a couple of adventurers."

"Capable? I'll show them capable-!" Aisha hissed to herself.

"What do we need to do?" Rena interrupted.

"Hmm… let's see… If you were to take back some of the stolen goods that have been taken from the merchants I'm sure they'll be happy to lend you a hand in your search," he deduced. "Just outside the village there's a memorial bridge dedicated to _Wally_." He frowned as he said the name. "A lot of bandits are hanging around the bridge, attacking anyone who pass. I'm sure some of those bandits will have a few stolen goods from the merchants."

"Fine by me. I don't like those bandits just hanging around so close," Elsword said as he stood up. "Where to?"

"It should be to your left after you leave. You can always ask some of the other townsfolk for directions if you have to, although it'll likely cost you."

"Uh, no thanks, mister," Aisha muttered.

"Right then!" Elsword exclaimed, cracking his knuckles. "Time to beat up some bandits!"

* * *

YEAAAAAAAAH! Let's hope that things actually heat up! (although it's still probably going to crawl along in an insanely boring fashion...)

I probably won't be updating as frequently; school's starting in a few days e.e (but then again I never updated frequently in the first place... rippu)

That said, welcome to Elder! Hopefully I'll actually be motivated to write somewhat! (yeah, nope, procrastination rules... and the interesting bits don't really happen until later on...)

Maybe I'll be more motivated when I get to Bethma? ...I probably jinxed it just now, didn't I.

I _do_ have something _special_ for Bethma though (at first I thought of the arc as completely useless but then I realized that it could be used to cram in a whole bunch of character shticks (because it was so useless to the story imo) and now I'm super excited at being able to mentally abuse some of the chars and jsakldfjnlkjdjsklaafsaa). LIFE LESSONS, PEOPLE!

atm the most "useless" arc is probably Feita, even though the demons are introduced and etc. Maybe the arc could be used to fully flesh out Raven and/or Eve's char...?

I'm planning too far ahead again.

I'm rambling again.

I'll just shut up now.


End file.
